EPA
Reveals Massive Clean-Up Plan for 80-year old NC Orchard
(Beyond Pesticides, August 8, 2003) In the fall of 2004,
EPA will begin a $15.4 million clean-up effort targeted at the Barber
Orchard neighborhood near Ashville, NC. This site was used as an orchard
for more than 80 years and contains over 180 acres of arsenic-tainted
soil and nine miles of broken pipes, which formerly carried pesticides
throughout the fields, reports an article in the Ashville
Citizen-Times. Part of this property now belongs to a Haywood County
subdivision.

The residents had
a chance to voice their opinions to the Agency at a town meeting in
Waynesville. "We really don't know the exact order they're wanting
to do things in," said David Sutton, who has lived in Barber Orchard
for 13 years. The EPA has already spent $4 million as part of an emergency
response to the area after tests showed arsenic, lead and pesticides
had contaminated the soil and the water supply.

According to local
historians, the orchard was used for more than 80 years and stretched
over 400 acres at its peak operation. The 9 miles of underground pipes
that delivered the toxic pesticides to the fields would often freeze,
crack, and then leak during the warmer summer months. EPA and local
residents believe that a majority of the pipes are still in the ground,
continuing to pollute the soil and the water.

Five of the 55 wells
in the subdivision tested positive for the pesticide lindane,
a known carcinogen to mice. Local residents are concerned about future
development and main water line expansion in the area.

For more information
regarding the water quality in your area, go to EPA's ground water and
drinking water website.
Contact Beyond Pesticides for more information about pesticides in drinking
water.